A method of continuously depositing a coating on a substrate comprises (a) depositing a first layer of ta-C on a substrate via a CVA process, said first layer having a first hardness and a first thickness of 100 mm or greater; (b) adjusting the parameters of the CVA process and depositing a second layer of ta-C on a substrate via a CVA process, said second layer having a second hardness and a second thickness of 10 mm or less, and (c) repeating the above steps to provide a coating comprising at least 5 such first layers and at least 4 such second layers, wherein the first thickness is greater than the second thickness and the first hardness is greater than the second hardness.

A component (100), in particular for a valve train system, having a substrate (3) and a layer system (1) applied at least in parts to the substrate (3), wherein the layer system (1) includes a friction-reducing and wear-reducing protective layer (2) for forming a component surface, wherein the protective layer (2) has at least one first sub-layer (4, 4a) made of doped tetrahedral amorphous carbon, which includes sp.sup.3-hybridized carbon having a mole fraction of at least 50%, wherein the first sub-layer (4, 4a) contains oxygen in a concentration in the range from 0.1 at % to 3.0 at % and hydrogen in a concentration in the range from 0.1 at % to 15 at %, and wherein the first sub-layer (4, 4a) has one or more of the following dopants in a concentration in the range from 0.03 at % to 15 at %: chromium, molybdenum, tungsten, silicon, copper, niobium, zirconium, vanadium, nickel, iron, silver, hafnium, fluorine, boron and nitrogen. A method for producing such a component (100) is also provided.

The invention provides a substrate coated with a multi-layer coating, comprising in order: (a) the substrate; (b) a thermally insulating layer (e.g. Si.sub.3N.sub.4); (c) an interfacial layer (e.g. SiC); and (d) one or more layers comprising ta-C; wherein the interfacial layer promotes adhesion of the one or more layers comprising ta-C to the thermally insulating layer; and methods for producing such coatings.

A system and a method for a nanostructured film including a first layer for reflecting at least a portion of an electromagnetic radiation and a second layer for receiving the remainder of the electromagnetic radiation through the first layer and subsequently reflecting at least a portion of the received electromagnetic radiation through the first layer, wherein two electromagnetic radiations with the same wavelength reflected by the first and second layers respectively are combined to form a strengthened electromagnetic radiation, the wavelength of the strengthened electromagnetic radiation being variable based on the physical property of the first layer.

A manufacturing method of a crystallized metal oxide layer includes: providing a substrate; forming a first insulation layer on the substrate; forming a first metal oxide layer on the first insulation layer; forming a second metal oxide layer on the first insulation layer; forming a second insulation layer on the first metal oxide layer and the second metal oxide layer; forming a silicon layer on the second insulation layer; performing a first laser process on a portion of the silicon layer covering the first metal oxide layer; and performing a second laser process on a portion of the silicon layer covering the second metal oxide layer. An active device and a manufacturing method thereof are also provided.

The purpose of the present invention is to provide a coated metal mold having superior durability and adhesion resistance over a usage range from cold to warm/hot; and a method for manufacturing the coated metal mold. The coated metal mold is characterized by having a hard coating on a surface, wherein the hard coating includes an A layer formed from a nitride and having a film thickness not smaller than 5 μm, and a B layer formed of a diamond-like carbon coating, the B layer is disposed closer to the outer surface side than the A layer, the surface of the B layer has an arithmetic mean roughness Ra≤0.2 μm, a maximum height Rz≤2.0 μm, and a skewness Rsk<0.

An object including a. a fiber reinforced plastic and b. a ceramic material, wherein the ceramic material is prepared by plasma electrolytic oxidation of aluminium. A process for the preparation of the object, including the steps of a. providing aluminium, a fiber reinforced plastic and a resin, or providing aluminium and a precursor of a fiber reinforced plastic comprising fibers and a resin, b. treating, at least partially, the aluminium with plasma electrolytic oxidation to provide a ceramic material, c. attaching the ceramic material to the fiber reinforced plastic with the resin, or attaching the ceramic material to the fibers with the resin, d. curing the resin to provide the object including the fiber reinforced plastic and the ceramic material at least partly bound to the fiber reinforced plastic.

A seal assembly includes a housing at least partially defining a seal opening and at least partially surrounding a rotatable shaft. A carbon seal is located at least partially in the seal opening and includes a sealing surface. The rotatable shaft includes a radially facing surface that has a carbide based coating and a diamond-like carbon coating in engagement with the sealing surface on the carbon seal.

A piston ring with a coated outer surface is provided. The coating is disposed on end sections of the outer surface adjacent a gap. Typically, a middle section of the outer surface located between the end sections is not coated. The coating can be formed of CrN or DLC, and the CrN coating can be applied by physical vapor deposition (PVD). The end sections of the outer surface, upon which the coating is applied, are rough. For example, the outer surface can be blasted or otherwise textured to achieve the rough surface. The rough surface retains oil and distributes stress better than a smooth surface, and thus reduces crazing and flaking of the coating.

A heat shield component includes a substrate, and a heat shield film arranged on the substrate. The heat shield film includes a first layer arranged on the substrate, including pores, and having a thermal conductivity of 0.3 W/(m.Math.K) or less and a volumetric specific heat of 1200 kJ/(m.sup.3.Math.K) or less, and a second layer arranged on the first layer to provide closed pores between the first layer and the second layer. The heat shield film has a surface roughness on a top surface which is 1.5 μm Ra or less. The heat shield component can achieve high heat-insulating properties and an improved effect of reducing the emission amount of hydrocarbon in an internal combustion engine, for example.